Orleans Parish jury convicts man in 17-year-old rape case

An Orleans Parish jury late Wednesday found a 35-year-old man guilty of forcible rape and second-degree kidnapping for a crime committed 17 years ago. A computer hit through the federal Combined DNA Indexing System database, or CODIS, turned up a match for Troy Taylor in the August 1994 rape of a victim who was 18 at the time, as was Taylor, according to Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office. The Times-Picayune does not name rape victims.

Authorities took a cheek swab from Taylor after his narcotics bust in Texas in 2009. Police arrested him Nov. 23.

According to prosecutors, Taylor offered to give the victim a ride, drove under the overpass at Florida Avenue and France Road and raped her, both orally and vaginally.

During a three-day trial, prosecutors Payal Patel and Brittany Reed were allowed to present the jury with evidence that Taylor had committed other sex crimes, according to the DA's office. The jury deliberated about two hours before reaching the guilty verdicts.

Troy Taylor

Attorneys for Taylor, a landscaper who lists an address in eastern New Orleans, said they planned to appeal.

They said they could not do their own tests of DNA from a rape kit taken after the crime because none remains, having been destroyed in the flooding of the criminal courthouse basement after Hurricane Katrina.

Prosecutors presented evidence of 2005 tests on the DNA that matched Taylor, but attorney Cameron Ehsani Landry called it a weak match.

"He still maintains his innocence. The DNA results in my opinion were a bare minimum that you could even report a match," he said.

Taylor is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 22. Each count carries a sentence of five to 40 years in prison.